Vidya
Wadkar
Distinguished Engineer at Verizon
"Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI"
"Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI"
Wed May 13 - 2:50 PM EDT/New York (See in local time)
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05/13/2026 2:50 PM
05/13/2026 03:00 PM
America/New_York
#WTGC2026
"Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI"
#WTGC2026
"Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI"
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https://www.womentech.net/ringcentral
"Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI"
"Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI"
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Session: Why Memory Is the Missing Layer in Conversational AI
Conversational AI has advanced rapidly, yet many systems still struggle to maintain continuity, retain meaningful context, and adapt intelligently across interactions. As a result, even capable systems can feel repetitive, disconnected, or limited in their ability to support complex user journeys. This lightning talk explores why memory is emerging as a foundational layer in next-generation conversational AI. It introduces memory not as a single feature, but as a structured capability spanning short-term, episodic, semantic, and procedural memory, each contributing differently to continuity, personalization, and decision quality. The talk will show how memory-aware design can help AI systems move beyond one-turn responses toward more contextually grounded and useful interactions. Drawing from enterprise AI architecture and applied research, the session will offer a practical perspective on how memory can improve reliability, user experience, and system intelligence in real-world conversational environments.Key Takeaways
- Why conversational AI systems often fail without meaningful memory
- The difference between short-term, episodic, semantic, and procedural memory
- How memory improves continuity, relevance, and personalization
- Why memory should be treated as an architectural layer in enterprise AI systems
- Practical considerations for designing more context-aware conversational experiences
Bio
Vidya Vishal Wadkar is a Distinguished Engineer and AI systems architect with expertise in conversational AI, agentic systems, enterprise-scale AI platforms, and cloud-native architectures. She leads the design of large-scale intelligent systems focused on contextual reasoning, automation, and customer-centric AI experiences. Her research and engineering work includes memory-augmented conversational AI, agentic RAG frameworks, and observability for distributed AI systems. She is passionate about building practical, trustworthy, and human-centered AI solutions that bridge research and real-world enterprise impact.